NYC Dumpling Festival and EATaly

I braved the sweltering heat on Saturday and ventured out to the NYC Dumpling Festival. An avid dumpling fan, I was super excited to eat dumplings to my heart's content. Sadly, it was not what it seemed. Sponsored by Whole Foods and benefiting the Food Bank, it was simply different stands featuring frozen dumplings sold at Whole Foods. I did not realize this until I had already paid my $20 for 4 tastings. I was sweating, starving and pretty irritated to be eating subpar dumplings. The highlight of the festival was a Mario Batali sighting.


On Sunday morning, I finally made it to EATaly. Move over Disneyland, it is most definitely the happiest place on Earth! EATaly is Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's latest food revolution--a massive indoor market place with every Italian goodie you can imagine. Complete with a coffee bar, gelato bar, chocolate bar, panini bar, cheese counter, mozzarella counter, fish and meat counters, cafe, full scale restaurant and much more! Words really can't describe how wonderful it is inside. I could spend all day eating and browsing. I haven't been this excited since I discovered the Chelsea Market which pales in comparison to EATaly. Heaven really is a place on Earth.


Run, don't walk to EATaly! Run during non peak hours though since every New Yorker is probably just as obsessed as I am which means crowds and lines galore.